The Golden Rule/ethic Of Reciprocity

[nokia]

Hello folks,

It's a long & hot saturday afternoon, so i was trying to figure out the necessity of the golden rule.

Are we humans beings, self-Centered(ME) by nature, caring for ourselves first, (young toddlers are excellent selfish examples) and need to be taught/reminded otherwise? What are your thoughts?

Cheers!

nokia

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Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. [confucius XII,2]

Consider others as yourself. (buddha)

The Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do to you) and the Wiccan Rede (If no harm is done, do as you will) are forms of the Ethic of Reciprocity. Greek philosophers in the fourth centurybce derived it from logic as the most basic moral code, and four thousand years ago it appeared in ancient Egypt. It is the most basic relativistic-logic ethic. On account of its simplicity it is the most universal moral code known; appearing in nearly all cultures, being derived from multiple teachers, religions and philosophies at different times in different ways.

"The principle of reciprocity is often the justification, motivation and, in some cases, the essence of a moral code."

The Golden Rule appears in most religions including: African Traditional1, Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Paganism, Scientology, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Wicca4 and Zoroastrianism. It appears in most generic cultures and secular philosophies: Atheism, Humanism, Greek philosophy & culture, Marxism7, Roman antiquity1 and Persian1 culture. The oldest occurance of the golden rule may be one from 1970 to 1640BCE from ancient Egypt, making it a four-thousand old doctrine at least. The Egyptian empire spread its methods of religion and myths worldwide.

Yet it is not a universal belief of all religions. Nordic culture is probably an exception. Satanism does not accept the ethic of reciprocity and Anton LaVey edited the Golden Rule to add a note saying that he believed that punishment was acceptable for a persons' action if a person deemed them deserving of it for some reason.

"Every atheist I have known has always fallen back upon the one concept echoed worldwide, and taught by religious and secular leaders throughout all time: the so-called "Golden Rule."

[ourmanflint]

Err Yes! is the answer...

all philosophies and religions are there solely to guide us beyond our nature!! Our nature is to be selfish, because that is the choice that will give us the best chance at gathering food and leaving our progeny behind, it is the nature of all living things, with the exception of some social insects such as ants etc.. ( but there is a good reason for that )

As such your "golden rule" I believe, would have been one of the first things in our intellectual evolution that helped us move beyond our nature, and into full consciousness, and is consequently found wherever humans are!